Virtual event platform Hopin, last rated on a Valuation of $7.75 Billion, has laid off 29% of employees, or 242 people, a spokesperson confirmed via email to londonbusinessblog.com. The cuts come just four months after Hopin let go of 12% of its workforce, aiming for sustainable growth amid the changing market.
In the company’s latest staff cuts, Hopin said the affected employees mainly supported event operations. Assuming most people within the company work to support the event operations, it’s unclear which teams have been brought back specifically. Hopin said it has invested and grown Hopin into a portfolio of multiple products, including personal event management, hybrid events, video hosting and “new products currently in development.”
Senior executives are also leaving as part of the layoff, but Hopin did not share details. In addition to cutting nearly a third of the company, Hopin confirmed that some contractors and members of an outside team had been laid off, but did not provide exact numbers.
“We have made the very difficult decision to reduce our workforce given the current macroeconomic environment and the need to keep our event product running efficiently,” a spokesperson said via email. The spokesperson said the company has taken preventive measures before the layoff, including a hiring freeze and reduction in marketing spend. “It became necessary to simplify our event operations and support activities to build a profitable and sustainable business.”
Hopin’s 2022 looks dramatically different from 2021, a year in which the company acquired five startups, including a $250 million purchase of StreamYard. The venture-backed startup amassed up to $1 billion in known venture capital over a two-year period, from top investors such as Tiger Global, Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, Accel, Slack Fund, Coatue, Salesforce Ventures and others, per Crunchbase.
Despite the ongoing spread of the pandemic around the world, bits of normal life have resumed – including the return of personal work and events. Built for the rising demand for remote events and virtual collaboration, Hopin is therefore challenged to develop itself into a pandemic tool. Like
Two rounds of layoffs close together suggest Hopin’s company needs a runway. Those affected by today’s layoff, per Hopin, will receive three months of compensation and health benefits, access to mental health benefits and the one-year cliff dropped before the shares vest. Employees can also keep their laptops.
“Hopin’s mission has always been to build technology that better connects people, and these changes have been made so we can focus on this now more than ever,” the spokesperson told londonbusinessblog.com via email.
Current and former Hopin employees can contact Natasha Mascarenhas via email at [email protected] or on Signal, a secure encrypted messaging app, at 925 271 0912.